Shown here at the face during underground testing, the prototype Rapidex spiral
drill-and-blast machine utilizes a single Joy T350 drifter drill.
Spiral Drill-and-Blast Concept May Speed Up
Tunneling Advance Rate
Carl R. Peterson, Allan T. Fisk, Richard E. Brooks, Rapidex Inc. and James J. Olson, USBM Twin Cities Mining Research Center
Development of a continuous drill-and-blast excavation
capability in mining and high-speed tunneling has been a
long recognized goal. Ideally, a machine to meet the chal-
lenge should simultaneously perform drilling, explosive
loading, initiation, mucking, ventilation, and other func-
tions while remaining at the face, since the elimination or
modification of the cyclic nature of t h e system would sig-
nificantly improve the advance rate and economy of drill-
and-blast tunneling. T h e Hapidex continuous spiral drill-
and-blast concept, o n e of the continuous excavation
schemes presently under evaluation in the US Bureau of
Mines' Bedded Deposits subprogram, utilizes an unusual
blasting pattern that provides effective fragmentation and
involves a partially self-shielding geometry that permits a
lightly shielded machine to remain at the face during blast-
ing
---0
Following a basic engineering evaluation of the techni-
cal and economic feasibility of the project sponsored by
the Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects
Agenc and managed by the USBM, subsequent work
fundedby the Department of Transportation (DOT) used
conventional drill-and-blast technology to demonstrate
that the spiral blast pattern could effectively advance a
heading. Approximately 10.5 m (35 ft) of 3 x 3-m (10 x
10-ft) horseshoe tunnel was driven at the White Pine cop-
MINING ENGINEERS
per mine in White Pine, Mich. Projected advance rates
based on the D O T investigation were four times that of
conventional drill-and-blast methods. Cost reductions of
approximately 50% were also predicted on aper-foot basis.
T h e most recent step forward in the project-Phase
111-was the development and testin ofthe "front end" of
a prototype machine, including the cfrilling, loading, blast
initiation, and shielding components. Principal emphasis
was on the development of a remotely controlled auto-
mated system for loading and initiating explosive charges.
Aside from a problem stemming from the unexpected de-
sensitization of the explosive substance used-which has
since been overcome-all components functioned prop-
erly and survived the blasting.
The Spiral Blast Concept
T h e spiral blast pattern consists of radial spokelike rows
of blastholes emanating from the centerline of the heading
and dividing the face into pie-shaped segments (Fig. 1).
Starting from a flat face, holes are drilled to constant depth
within each spoke, with depth increasing in sequence
from spoke to spoke; i.e., if the first spoke is of zero depth,
succeeding spokes in a 16-spoke pattern would b e drilled
to depths increasing 100 mm (4 in.) per spoke to reach a
maximum depth of 1.6 m (64 in.) in one turn. Pie-shaped
MINING ENGINEERING 29
 Encapsulated Coil connection to radial positioning ofthe hose. T h e primary initiation coil is
connection cap legwires mounted at the forward e n d of the loading pod. Prior to
blasting, the pod is swung inward to a safe position, nested
against the e n d of the HAS.
T h e loading hose, a standard item normally used for
slurry pumping, is carried through a conduit extending
Coil leads through the machine, the HAS, the center of the loading
pod, and the primary coil. T h e hose is extended and re-
tracted by a hydraulic cylinder at the rear of the vehicle.
Extensive efforts to develop new explosive products or
Encopsuloted Split steel sleeve loading and initiation equipment were not part of the
coil assembly Phase 111 agenda. Powergel, a pumpable, cap-sensitive
(Bonded to cap) slurry manufactured by Canadian Industries Ltd. (CIL)
Cop windings was selected as the explosive material; a delivery pump

Flexible quidonce,
and sealing flange -*Y
BY 100 turns 3 0 gage
and hose system manufactured for the Powergel
selected for use on the prototype.
- was also

Successful implementation of the Rapidex concept dic-

tates that the detonation should occur only after all explo-
sive agents are deposited in the blasthole and all safety and
shielding steps have been completed. Because of the
eventual requirement for complete automation of the con-
cept, physical connections to the charge, such as lead
wires, were clearly undesirable. T h e actual initiation
source chosen-a long-delay blasting cap-represented an

Fig. 2-Inductively
U
initiated electric blasting cap.
7.5 second electric
blasting cop
element ofexisting technology which was in keeping with
the original contract plan. The cap is inductively armed as
it leaves the loading hose, which is positioned at the rear of
the loaded borehole.
T h e remote initiation package (Fig. 2) performs four
functions: (1)Acts as a piston to push the explosive through
tions, all within a plane passing through the centerline of the loading hose; (2) Separates the explosive ahead of the
the HAS: sash advance, drill advance, drill canting, radial package from the water used to propel the Powergel and
extension of the drill arm, and radial motion of the drill the package; (3) Inductively couples the standard electric
sash relative to the drill arm. (The latter motion permits cap to a primary ignition coil; and (4) After the nominal
one drill to assume several positions.) Successive radial 742-second delay, it initiates the explosive detonation.
spokes are reached by indexing the HAS. In practice, the explosive delivery and initiation pro-
The loading arm is an armored rectangular box section ceed as follows: water pushes the piston cap, which in turn
which protects a radially extending S-bend in the loading pushes a premetered explosive charge ahead of it through
hose. T h e pod is an armored, rubber-wrapped cylinder the loading hose. T h e cap is armed as it passes through the
which is pivoted from the e n d of the loading arm to provide primary coil just prior to being deposited in the borehole.
The hose withdrawal timing and rate are coordinated with
the explosive delivery rate (Fig. 3).
Explosive supply line7
Explosive and water d r ~ v e
H y d r a u l ~ cfluid In7
Blasting Tests and Shield Performance
Approximately 100 shots were fired during Phase I11 and
E x p l o s ~ v emeterlng
earlier testing. Only minor damage to the blast shield oc-
cylinder (empty) curred, while drilling and loading components-present
only in the Phase I11 tests-suffered no damage whatsoever.
As shown earlier, no special effort was made to protect
air, water, or hydraulic lines leading to the drill other than
that they were all placed behind the main shield. How-
able
divider
f water
discharge
ever, if multiple drills were to b e employed, a more com-
&&
and diverler pact plumbing system would also b e required.
g Fixed loadlng hase canduit7 Loading hose7 In operation, the drill sash to driven forward until a
"stinger" is held firmly against the tunnel face. T h e radial
arm drill support system proved satisfactory, and although
no shots were fired while actually drilling, shots were fired
with the stinger against the face without damage to the
Looding hase retract c y l l n d e r l
11 drilling equipment.
T h e test vehicle was clamped between the mine floor
and roof at a point near the back of the frame during - the
blasting tests:
T h e blasting cap-piston concept illustrated in Fig. 2 was
developed in cooperation with the Atlas Powder Co. Atlas
Timemaster 7%-second EBS caps were used as the basic
element. Both dummy caps, containing only the "match"
element, and live caps were pumped through t h e system,
Fig. 3-Explosive loading and initiation system, at time of cap and both fired reliably when passed through the energized
initiation. primary coil.

MINING ENGINEERS MINING ENGINEERING 31

 Special dummy caps were fabricated to test the safety of
the cap-coil combination when subjected to induced or
stray 60-Hz fields. These caps allowed measurement of the
voltage induced across the match element or bridge wire.
The caps, together with measuring instruments, were
taken to locations of high electromagnetic fields such as
high-horsepower motors, 4160-v transmission lines, power
lines subjected to large power surges, and power centers.
T h e highest bridge current induced during these tests was
0.005 A; since such caps are normally considered safe
b e l o w 0.05 A, the wire-wound versions were considered
safe for mine use.
An unexpected problem with desensitization of the ex-
plosive was encountered when the cap and explosive load-
ing systems were combined and complete loading and
initiation was attempted with the ~ o w k r ~ e~lr.i e f l i the
, Dr. Carl Peterson 1s an associate pro-
Phase 111 tests showed that Powergel loading by the pro-
c e d u r e described earlier was insensitive t o No. 6 blasting
c a p s and even to specially developed caps having a
strength greater than a No. 9 cap, placed at the collar of the
hole. Although the explosive was successfully detonated
automatically using the special No. 9-plus cap placed at the
bottom of the hole, this positioning consumed some of the
delay interval required to permit the loading pod to be
safely tucked away, and was not considered a satisfactory
remedy.
The problem was diagnosed as a case of shear desensiti-
zation of the Powergel, complicated by the fact that the
delivery system surrounded the blasting cap-piston with
the desensitized material. The manufacturer reported that
excessive working of t h e Powergel explosive could cause
s h e a r deformation of the material, reducing it to a rela-
tively low-viscosity material that is permanently desen-
sitized. The information was substantiated by early Phase
111 tests, which showed that t h e cap-piston elements were
always deposited in a volume of Powergel at the collar
w h i c h had l o w viscosity and was fluidic rather than
gelatinous.
Although the shear deformation problem has not yet
been solved, recent tests indicate that a t e c h n i q u e using
D u Pont Detaprime boosters slipped over a No. 6 cap
package
-- is successful in remotely initiating t h e c o l u ~ n nat
the collar.
PHASE IV DEVELOPMENTS
Phase IV has as its goal the demonstration of a "com-
plete" spiral-blast machine, including provision for inuck-
ing and remote operation via television monitoring. Muck-
ing, in particular, is believed by many to be the most
difficult of all necessary operations.
The approach in Phase IV, as in all preceding phases,
will provide only essential functions at minimum cost.
H e n c e the complete vehicle is fabricated o n a surplus Joy
loader chassis and employs many Phase I11 front-end
components. While two drills will be used for the first
time, only one explosive loading systenr will be employed.
Fabrication of the hardware is now nearing completion
and preliminary testing will begin shortly.
An interesting aspect of the Rapidex concept is the possi-
bility of applying the spiral clrill-and-blast technique to
longwall-type extraction of a hard-rock deposit. In this ap-
plication, the drill-and-shoot vehicle would move along the
longwall face, drillingat the leading edge and loatling at the
trailing edge. The action ofthe hlast is perpendicular to the
line of' drill holes, thus propelling the muck onto the floor
where it could be picked up b y a separate machine and
transferred to a conveyor system. fl
References
' Theodore Barry and Associates. "OreHandl~ngEquipment Operations Safety Study In
Underground Metal and Nonmetal Mlnes, Phase II and Final Technical Report o n
Bureau of Mines Contract H0230004,"USBM Open File Report 86-75,July, 1974.
Dravo Corp.. "Analysis of Large-Scale Noncoal Underground Mining Methods.
Final Report on Bureau of Mines Contract S0122059."USBM Open File Report 36-74.
Jan. 1974.
Peterson.C . R., "Study of a Continuous D r ~ l and
l Blast Tunneling Concept."Flnal
technical report on Bureau of Mines (ARPA) Contract H0230W8. March 1973.
Olson,J J , and Olson, K. S.."ARPA-USBMRock Mechanics and Rapid Excavation
Program. A Research Project Summary,"USBM IC 8674, 1975.
' Peterson, C. R.. "The Development of a Continuous Drill and Blast Tunneling
Concept-Phase 11.'' Final technical report on DOT Contract DOT TSC 611, March,
1974.
' Peterson,C. R. and Herrlck,J.. "ContinuousSpiral BlastTunnellng."Proc. Second
North Am. Rapid Excavation and Tunneling Conference.June. 1974.
' Watson. R. and Hay, J E.. "ContinuousExplosive Fragmentat~onTechniques."
USBM Pittsburgh Mining and Salety Researchcenter. Final technical reporton ARPA-
sponsored in-house research (FY 72). Feb.. 1974.
fessor in the DeDartment of Mechanical
Eng neerlng at ~assacnusettslnstltdte
of Technoloav ICambrldae. Mass 02139.1
where he i;'deve~o~ingnew graduate
course materlal in the area of innovative
mining machinerydesign. H e holdsa B.S.
degree in mechanical engineering from
the University of Michigan, and S.M.and
Sc.D,degrees, also in mechanical engi-
neering, from M.I.T. Dr. Peterson IS the
founderof Rapidex,lnc. H e holdsapprox-
lmately 17 patents on mlning machinery
and related concepts.
Allan T. Fisk 1s vice-pres~dentof
Rapidex. Inc.. where he 1s program man-
ager for the spiral blast work. He holds
B.S.and M.S.degrees in mechanical en-
glneering from Northeastern University.
Since joining Rapidex. Mr. Fisk has
played an important role in the develop
ment of a variety of mining equipment
concepts, ~ncludingthe Rapldex Conical
Reamer.
Richard E. Brooks, Jr.. is project engl-
neer for Rapidex on the spiral blast pro-
gram. He holds a B.S.degree in mechani-
cal engineering from M~chiganState Uni-
versity, and an M.S. degree, also in
mechanical engineering, from Michigan
Technological Univers~ty. Pr~ortojoinlng
Rapidex in 1975, M r . Brooks was a con-
sultant,and prior to that he worked at the
Whlte Pine Copper mlne as a mine r e
search engineer.
JamesJ Olson is research supervisor for
the In S~tuMlnlng Dlvls~onof the USBM
Twin Cities M ~ n i n gResearch Center(P.0.
Box 1680.Twin Clties, Minn. 55111).Be-
fore join~ngthe research center staffin
1974, he coordinated a multimillion-
dollar research and development pro-
gram In hard-rock tunneling for the De-
fenseDepartment'sAdvanced Research
Projects Agency. H e holds a B.S. i n
geological engineering and a n M.S. in
geophysics from the University of Mln-
nesota,and has partlc~patedIn geophys-
~calresearch projects In the Alaskan Arc-
tic and the Antarctic.